One problem with dispensing soft liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as custard, prepared fruit and so forth for immediate consumption is that the purchaser must have some sort of eating utensil. At the present time it is customary for stores, food stands and so forth, which dispense food for immediate consumption, to supply an inexpensive wood or plastic spoon as a separate item. One problem with this procedure is that many health authorities insist that the eating utensil be wrapped separately in some way so that it is not handled in an exposed condition by anyone other than the ultimate user.
Supplying a spoon, fork or other similar eating utensil as a separate item with the purchase is troublesome, expensive, and time consuming. In addition, providing an eating utensil is difficult to do when the food is dispensed from an unattended machine. The present invention is directed toward means of providing a spoon, or other eating utensil, integral with the package in which the liquid or semi-liquid food for immediate consumption is sold. Particularly, the invention is concerned with a container for dispensing ready-to-eat food in semi-liquid form having a lid which sealably closes the container, the lid including, as an integral part thereof, a spoon or other eating utensil.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved container for dispensing ready-to-eat foods.
Another object of this invention is to provide a lid for a container for use in dispensing food, the lid including as an integral part thereof, a removable eating utensil.
Still more particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a container including a lid, the lid having formed therewith, an eating utensil defined by a continuous groove or notch which circumscribes the eating utensil which retains the lid in a completely sealed condition until the eating utensil is removed by grasping at one edge of the lid and pulling upwardly on the eating utensil so that it is torn from the lid along the continuous notch or groove.
These general objects, as well as other and specific objects of the invention, will be fulfilled in the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.